


This Is Your Badness Level

by LulaMadison



Category: The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: Angst, Fairy Tales, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Imaginary Friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-13
Updated: 2012-08-25
Packaged: 2017-11-12 01:42:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/485257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LulaMadison/pseuds/LulaMadison
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fill for a <a href="http://norsekink.livejournal.com/8195.html?thread=17178627">prompt</a> on Norsekink, which was based on <a href="http://justloki.tumblr.com/post/22607619349/rosiedosie-dontstartlethewitch">this</a> Tumblr post.</p><p>Loki is the rather reluctant imaginary friend of a 6 year old girl, and even though he has important tasks to attend to, such as letting the frost giants into the weapons vault, and trying to take over Midgard, he keeps getting dragged back into her world.</p><p>Inspired by the films <em>Lilo & Stitch</em> and <em>Drop Dead Fred</em>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic has now kindly been translated into Japanese by Wondy and is available [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/734136)

The first time it happened was after an argument with Thor.

It was just a silly spat, but an all too common occurrence lately for Loki's liking, and as usual it was Sif who started it.

“I don't wish to wear a dress to the feast,” she had complained, when they had been informed that the visit of an ambassador was to be an extremely formal affair. “Perhaps you should wear it, Loki. It would undoubtedly suit you far more than I.”

“Yes, Loki,” Fandral pronounced, “Maybe after the mead and the dancing some handsome warrior will sweep you off your feet.”

Loki was about to reply, when Thor began to laugh loudly, and instead he snapped, “Why are you laughing? You're my brother and yet you join in this mockery?”

“It is merely a jest. Do you not see the humour in it?”

“No, I see my own brother hurting me _yet again_ ,” Loki fumed.

“ _Loki…_ you are far too sensitive.” Thor laughed. “If you are going to weep like a maiden at such a sleight then perhaps Sif is correct.”

Loki balled his hands into fists, turned on his heels and stormed away, with the sound of laughter echoing down the hall after him.

 

Loki ripped open the door to his private quarters, and slammed it viciously behind him. He was torn between absolute rage and breaking down in tears, but instead he threw himself onto his bed, buried his face into the black fur throw, and let out a scream of utter frustration.

He was trying to calm himself, plotting the various methods of revenge he would take against Thor and his friends, when he heard a voice in his head, so small and quiet that for a second he didn't know if he had imagined it or not.

When Loki had opened his eyes, instead of lying on soft black fur his fingers were tightly gripping a pink satin quilt, embroidered with delicate flowers, which smelled faintly of lavender.

He heard a sound, a whimpering so soft it could only have been made by a child, and as he lifted his head he saw a canopy of pink sparkling gauze that draped from the wall to the sides of the bed, and a soft doll lay discarded next to his hand. This was definitely _not_ his room.

“Hello?” Loki asked, as he turned over, but no reply came, so he swung his legs off the edge of the bed, and stood up.

‘Midgard’ he thought as he looked around the room. It made sense. When people prayed to the gods for help, sometimes Loki would be called and he would find himself in a strange house, but the room he had appeared in this time was no peasants hovel.

It was small and bright, with a single window covered in shimmering sheer cloth that rippled in the breeze, and pastel pink painted walls. Loki couldn't imagine that a place like this would be host to giants or trolls.

The noise came again, and he turned to see a small figure clinging onto a soft furry animal, huddled besides a blue wooden box, which was painted with bright stars of many different colours.

“Are you all right?” Loki asked.

“Yes, thank you,” a small female voice replied, her breath hitching with sobs.

“You don't sound all right,” Loki said, peering over the box to get a better view of the child. “Has someone hurt you?”

“No,” she replied. “I'm just sad.”

“There is no need for tears, little one,” Loki said, as he knelt next to her. “Why don't you tell me what has you so upset?”

“No one likes me,” the girl whimpered, turning her face slightly to peep at Loki over the fuzzy head of her bear.

“But you seem like a fine upstanding young maiden to me. I can't imagine why no one would like you.”

“They think I'm strange,” she whispered, pulling the bear down further so Loki could finally see her face. “They call me names.”

“Who?”

“The boys and girls at school. They don't want to be my friend, and they laugh at me because I like to read and stuff.”

“I like to read,” Loki told her, beginning to realise why out of all the gods that he might have been sent. “Do you think that makes me strange?”

The girl pulled her bear down completely, pushed her mousy brown hair off her face, and looked Loki up and down. She cast her eyes over his Asgardian tunic, leather boots, and gold trimmed trousers and said, “You do look a bit funny.”

Loki looked down at himself, and said, “Well, yes I suppose I do, a little.”

The girl smiled at him brightly, and Loki couldn't help but smile back at her, and she asked, “What's your name?”

“My name is Loki, I am a prince of Asgard, and I am very pleased to meet you,” he said, as he stood and gave a flourishing bow. “How may I address you, fair maiden. I assume that you are a princess?”

She giggled. “I'm not a princess. I just like them.”

“How extraordinary, I would have thought a girl who likes to read, and who is as pretty as you, would indeed be a princess. What is your name?”

“Amelia,” she replied with a blossoming smile.

“That is a fine name, and tell me Amelia, how old are you?”

“I'm six. I'm a big girl now.”

“So Amelia, I believe you invited me here. Is there any way I can help you?”

“I don't think so…” Amelia said with a frown, as she straightened out her battered princess dress. “Would you like some tea?”

“Why, I would love some tea,” Loki replied.

Amelia stood up, moving out of her hiding spot behind the toy box, and began to clear the top of a small white plastic table. From another box she pulled a small pink plastic teapot, two saucers, and two teacups.

“Sit down, please,” Amelia said, pointing to a tiny white plastic chair.

“It's a little small,” Loki said, as he tried to ease himself down onto the child-sized chair, hoping it would bear his weight without the legs snapping off.  When Loki finally settled he was practically bent double, with his knees tucked into his chest. It was uncomfortable, impractical, and he could barely breathe in his armour, but at least it hadn't broken and sent him sprawling backwards across the floor.

Amelia sat opposite him, picked up the teapot and poured nothing but fresh air into the cups. “Would you like milk?”

“Yes, please.”

She picked up a small plastic jug and poured invisible milk into the empty cup, and passed Loki a spoon, which he used to stir his non-existent tea. He raised the cup to his lips, and took a long drink of nothing. “You make an excellent cup of tea, Amelia. I would venture to say that this is one of the best I have _ever_ tasted.”

Amelia smiled as she put down her spoon and picked up her cup, sticking her little finger out in a ladylike manner.

“So tell me, apart from the boys and girls at school, does everyone treat you well?” Loki asked, taking a delicate sip from his cup again.

“My daddy is nice to me.”

“And your mother?”

“My mummy isn't here any more. She went to live with grandma and granddad in the sky with god.”

“Oh, that's sad,” Loki sympathised. “You must miss her very much, but I'm sure she thinks of you every day.”

“Do you live with your mummy and daddy?”

“I do, and with my brother too,” Loki replied with a frown. “I had a disagreement with my brother just before I came here. It wasn't very nice.”

“What's his name?”

“He is called Thor.”

The girl started to giggle and said, “That's a silly name. It sounds like 'sore'.”

“Yes, I suppose it is a bit of a silly name,” then Loki snickered and said, “It sounds like 'boar' too which is particularly apt.”

“What?” the girl asked, her face creasing in confusion.

“A boar is a pig and he eats like one, just like this,” Loki said, then he made oinking sounds, and pretended to sloppily fill his mouth with food. The girl shrieked with laughter, and Loki couldn't help but chuckle too.

“He made you sad?” she asked.

“Yes, he did.”

“I don't like him then,” Amelia replied curtly.

“He is all right much of the time,” Loki sighed, “but yes, lately I don't like him very much, sometimes.”

“Would you like to read a book with me?”

“I'd love to,” he replied, and they sat on the floor together and read a book about a girl named Matilda, which Loki found fascinating, and as Amelia grew sleepy and closed her eyes, he blinked and found himself back in his own room back on Asgard.

He felt slightly disappointed to be home.

 

 

**

 

 

The second time it happened was slightly more inconvenient.

Thor's coronation was a week away, and Loki had plans. It had been relatively easy to convince the Jotuns to attack Asgard, and he had shown them how to traverse the secret paths so they could enter the weapons vault and steal the casket. Of course, he hadn't told them that they would no doubt perish in their attempt to take it, but he could never allow such a powerful and ancient relic to fall into the hands of those monsters.

All he had to do was get back home before Heimdall cast his gaze towards him and realised he was concealed, and his plan would be complete, but as he exited the secret pathway instead of being in his golden quarters, with it's elaborate bed and black fur pelt, he found himself stepping out into a small pink room with princess wallpaper.

“’Ello Loki!” Amelia shouted. “Why are you wearing that funny hat?”

“What... What am I doing here?” Loki asked, confused. “I did not hear you call for me.”

“Have you come to play with me?” Amelia said, taking his hand, and leading him to the tiny white table. “We can have tea. Sit down.”

“I don't have time for tea,” Loki said. “I need to go home. It's very important.”

“I want you to have tea with me,” Amelia said, scowling and folding her arms in a very cross manner.

“I don't want to have-” Loki felt his body start to shift involuntarily, his legs moving, crouching, and he found himself sat on the chair against his will. “What is happening?”

“It's time for tea!”

“I don't want it!”

Amelia started to pour out the tea that didn't exist, and Loki found his hand reaching across to take hold of the cup.

“I can't stop it,” Loki complained, as he grabbed his arm and tried to pull it back. “Are you a sorcerer?”

“Like Harry Potter? I don't think so,” Amelia puzzled. “I just wanted you to have tea with me.”

“Well, apparently I have little choice in the matter,” Loki fumed, finally letting go of his arm, and watching his fingers snake around the small pink plastic cup.

“Are you supposed to be home for dinner?” Amelia asked.

“There is a feast… a party, tonight for my brother. If I am not present people will look for me, and it will be hard to explain where I have been.”

“Is it your brother's birthday?”

“No, he is going to be crowned king in seven days. It is to celebrate that”

“Aren't you going to be king?”

“No, he is older than me, I have always known that he would be king, but my brother is silly. He will be a very bad king, and I want my father to see that.”

“Are you going to tell your daddy?” Amelia asked. "It's not very nice to tell tales."

“No, I'm going to show him by letting the frost giants into the palace. Thor will over react, and my father will see once and for all that Thor is not ready to rule.”

"What's a frost giant?"

"They are monsters," Loki replied. "They are very bad, and you are a lucky young girl because you will never have to meet one."

“You're a naughty boy!” Amelia said, as she stood. She walked to her bedroom door, opened it, and shouted, "Daddy!"

"No-no-no no! What are you doing?" Loki stammered, and he stood as he heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs.

A man entered the room, and said, "What is it, darling?"

"Loki has been a _very_ bad boy," Amelia replied, with folded arms.

"What's he done now?"

"I haven't done anything," Loki said, nervously. "She's lying! Whatever she tells you, it's all lies!"

"Be quiet, Loki," Amelia said, then she turned to her father again. "He's letting strangers into his house!"

"That is a _very_ naughty thing to do, and I'm glad you've told me about it," he said, then he picked up a teddy bear from the bed, shook it lightly, and said, "You've been a very naughty boy!"

Loki stood, stunned for a second that the man couldn't see him. This had never happened before, and when he was called to help a family in the past he could be seen by all.

"That's not Loki, daddy!" Amelia laughed, then she raised her arm and pointed. "He's stood here."

"Well, what shall we do with him, should we give him a smacked bottom?"

"No!" Loki shouted.

"Yes!" Amelia shouted.

"Well, why don't you lay him on my knee, and I'll spank his bum," the man said, as he sat on the edge of the bed.

Amelia turned to Loki, and said, "Lay on my daddy's knee."

"How dare you! I am a prince of Asgard and I will not submit to-" Loki stopped his snarling as he felt his body begin to move involuntarily, walking jerkily across the room, then kneeling so he could lay across the man's knee. "No! No! Amelia, stop your sorcery!"

"There you go, daddy."

"I am a son of Odin. How dare you attempt to strike me?” Loki exclaimed, and then he shrieked loudly as the man smacked his bottom.

“You've been a very naughty boy Loki,” the man said, as he brought his hand down another 4 times, then he looked at Amelia and asked, “Has he learnt his lesson?”

Amelia looked at Loki, and noticed his cheeks were burning red with embarrassment, and said, “Yes, I think so. You can get up now.”

Loki jumped off the man's knee, rubbing his backside vigorously.

“Thank you, daddy,” Amelia said, as he bent down to give her a hug.

“Now, don't forget to tell me if he's naughty again, OK?”

“I will, daddy.”

As her father left the room, Loki turned to Amelia and said, “Why would you do that?”

“It's wrong to talk to strangers, so it must be even wronger to let them into your house.”

“I'm an adult,” Loki seethed. “I can do what I want, and I don't want to be here any more.”

“But… don't you want to be my friend any more?” Amelia stammered.

“No I don't,” Loki hissed, then he saw Amelia's face crumple in sadness, and immediately regretted his words. He wanted to say sorry, say he didn't mean it, but he had a strange feeling that he was watching her cry through a small tunnel, and he was slowly travelling further and further away.

“No,” Loki gasped, reaching out his hand as he saw her crying in the distance. “I didn't mean it.” He blinked and found himself in his quarters on Asgard.

“Send me back!” Loki shouted at whatever power controlled when he was sent to answer prayers. “I demand to be sent back!”

He considered heading back to Midgard through the secret paths, but then realised that he had no idea where Amelia lived.

Loki knew he'd hurt the only person who had been nice to him in a long time.


	2. Chapter 2

 

 

Loki stood in front of the casket watching the blue mist swirl around inside it. If he closed his eyes he could feel its energy trying to connect with him, stirring something inside his chest, calling out in a soft voice for him to lay his hand upon it again.

Hesitantly he raised his hand, his fingers lingering less than an inch from the surface, and he watched as the mist inside the ancient box grew stormy, almost begging to be touched. He thought back to his not-father's words of finding him, weak and abandoned, a frost giant child, left in the snow to die. He was a Jotun, a repulsive, brutish, monster, and everything he had been taught to hate.

Loki snatched his hand away, headed quickly up the steps and out of the weapons vault, and into a small room with a single window and pink princess wallpaper.

“Loki!” Amelia shrieked, as she ran across the room and hugged his legs.

“Amelia!” Loki said, as he untangled himself from her arms, and then knelt down so he could speak to her face to face.

“I didn't think you would come back and see me again,” she said, as she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly for a moment. “I thought you didn't want to be my friend any more.”

“Oh nonsense,” Loki replied, as he wiped his eyes. “Why wouldn't I want to be your friend?”

“I thought I upset you.”

“No, no,” he replied with a smile. “In fact I'm very glad to see you. I shouldn't have shouted at you. It wasn't very nice of me.”

“It's OK,” Amelia said. “You look sad.”

“Why would I be sad on this wonderful day?”

“You look like you've been crying.”

“Well, maybe a little,” Loki replied.

“Did your brother make you sad?”

“My brother has been sent away,” Loki said, as he stood up and sat on the edge of Amelia's bed, letting his head flop forward dejectedly.

“You let the bad people into your house?”

“I'm afraid I did, yes,” Loki replied, then he looked up, held his hand out and said, “P-Please, don't tell your father.”

“That was a very bad thing to do,” Amelia said with a frown. “I think you should sit down at the table and we will make sure you aren't bad any more.”

“I-” Loki was cut off when he stood up, and his legs began to move clumsily, walked him across the room, and plonked him down on the white plastic chair heavily, with his knees tucked up into his chest.

Amelia pulled out some paper and crayons from a drawer, sat down opposite Loki, and began to draw an empty figure with long, curved horns growing out of its head.

“This is your badness level,” Amelia stated, as she filled in the crudely drawn diagram with a red crayon, almost to the top, and leaving only the horns white. “You're a big boy so this is a _lot_ of badness.”

“I'm not _that_ bad,” Loki snapped, as he grumpily put his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand. “A few pranks, some minor plotting. I did it for the good of Asgard!”

“From now on you have to be nicer to people,” Amelia said.

“I _am_ nice to people,” Loki complained. “I'm nice to you.”

“You made me cry,” Amelia pointed out, as she scowled at him seriously.

“Oh… But I did apologise for that.”

“From now on you have to try to make people happy.”

“I do, I always try to do the right thing for Asgard, and for it's people,” Loki said, then he sighed and added, “I'm sorry, I'm afraid I'm not terribly good company today. Perhaps you should send me home.”

“Are you sad your brother got sent away?”

“A little. I didn't mean for that to happen,” Loki replied, “but I found something out, about myself, and everyone has been lying to me for a very long time.”

“It's not good to lie to people.”

“That's correct,” Loki said, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. “You should never lie. It's a terribly naughty thing to do.”

“Did your mummy and daddy shout at you for being naughty?”

“I learnt that my mummy and daddy aren't actually my mummy and daddy.”

“You're dopted?” Amelia asked. “I saw on TV about a girl who was dopted, and her mummy said it meant they loved her even more because they picked her out of all the babies.”

“I don't think that's quite how it worked with me.”

“What?” Amelia asked.

“I-I found out that I'm a monster. I'm a frost giant, and they are ugly creatures that we all hate because they are made only to destroy,” Loki said quietly. “I don't belong with my family any more. I'm afraid I'll never belong anywhere now.”

“You don't look like a monster,” Amelia said, tilting her head and observing Loki carefully. “You look like a normal boy to me.”

“I'm anything but normal,” Loki sighed.

“I don't believe you,” Amelia said, folding her arms.

“I could show you my true face, but I don't want to scare you.”

“It wouldn't scare me,” she laughed. “Let me see!”

“All right,” Loki said. He closed his eyes, allowed the glamour to fade away, his true, Jotun nature took over, and he opened his eyes.

Amelia smiled.

“You are not afraid of me?” Loki asked, as he looked down at his blue hands, and pulled his cuffs down, attempting to cover as much of the blue skin as possible.

“You look like a Smurf,” she laughed.

“A what?”

“A Smurf! They are blue just like you. My daddy got me a film about them!”

Loki smiled tentatively, and then watched as Amelia reached over the table to take his hand. She wasn't scared of him. She didn't think he was ugly. She didn't think he was a monster. She screamed as her fingers touched his and turned black with frostbite.

“No!” Loki cried, as he allowed the glamour to take over and his skin faded back to Asgardian pink.

“It hurts!” Amelia shrieked, as she held her fingers.

“I'll make them better,” Loki said, as he grabbed her hand, saying a healing spell over her fingers and rubbing them until the cracked, black skin began to fade.

The door of the room burst open, and Amelia's father shot into the room.

“What's happened?” he shouted. "I heard you from downstairs."

“Loki hurt my fingers, but he made them better,” Amelia said, holding her hand up.

“Does he need another smacked bottom?” he asked, and Amelia and Loki both shook their heads. “OK. Fish fingers, chips and beans for dinner! We can watch a film after it, too. Won't that be nice?”

Amelia nodded her head, and said, “Can we watch The Smurfs?”

“But we only watched that last week.”

“I know, but Loki hasn't seen it.”

“All right, we'll watch that then,” he said as he left the room, then poked his head back round the door and said, “but only if Loki is a good boy!”

Amelia laughed, and turned to Loki. “You'll be good, won't you?”

“I'll be very good,” Loki replied, with a nod of the head.

“He said he'll be good.”

“Smurfs it is then. Dinner will be ready soon,” he said, as he ducked back out of the room and headed down the stairs.

“I'm sorry I hurt you,” Loki said, taking hold of her hand again. “Now you can see why I am a monster. I wreck everything I touch.”

“You didn't mean to do it,” Amelia told him. “Maybe you should talk to your daddy about it. My daddy helps me when I am feeling sad.”

“I can't,” Loki replied. “He fell asleep, and he won't wake up for some time.”

“Like Sleeping Beauty?”

“What's that?”

“It's a fairy tale about a girl who fell asleep and she can only wake up when a prince kisses her.”

“I'm not going to kiss my own father,” Loki said disdainfully.

Amelia laughed, and said, “No, silly. Maybe you can wake him up another way.”

“They do say he can hear and see everything even while sleeps.”

“You could bang a drum next to his head and wake him up!”

“I'm not sure that's a good idea,” Loki said. “Do these fairy tales hold any other suggestions for waking people from sleep?”

“I don't know,” Amelia said, as she walked over to the shelves. “I have a book of them. We could look through it and find out.”

Amelia sat on the bed, next to Loki and handed him a large blue book.

“Which story shall we begin with?” Loki asked as he opened it and flicked through the worn pages.

“Oh! Will you read me this one?” Amelia asked when Loki reached ‘The tale of the ugly duckling’. “Will you read it with the funny voices, like you did last time?”

“Very well,” Loki replied, and he began.

He read about how the ugly duckling was born on a farm, but he wasn't like the other ducklings and they would tease him, so he ran away into the forest. When winter came it was cold, and the lake froze over, but a farmer found the little duckling half dead in the snow and took him home. The farmer's house was a loud and bustling place, filled with noisy children who scared the little duckling, and he ran away into the forest again.

Loki turned the page, and saw the large illustration of the small creature alone in the woods, and his voice broke as he read out the words, “I'm lost.”

“What's wrong?” Amelia asked, as Loki wiped his eyes.

“I'm sorry,” Loki sniffed. “I don't think I can read any more.”

“It's a happy ending though,” Amelia said, as she pointed at the pictures. “That's the Ugly Duckling. See? He's sad because he's all alone and nobody wants him, but on this page, his family hears him crying and they find him. Then the Ugly Duckling is happy because he knows where he belongs.”

“Not everyone has somewhere they belong,” Loki said quietly. “I don't belong anywhere now.”

“Maybe if your family hear you crying they will come to find you?” Amelia asked. “Maybe it would wake your daddy up and you can talk to him?”

“I'm not sure it would work,” Loki replied sadly.

“Amelia!” a voice called out. “Dinner is ready. Make sure you wash your hands, and Loki too.”

Amelia smiled, and asked, “Are you going to stay. We can watch the Smurf movie together. It's funny and will make you happy.”

“I'd like that,” Loki replied, and Amelia climbed off the bed, took his hand and led him down the stairs.

 

Amelia went to bed after the watching the Smurfs movie, and as Loki sat on the little white plastic chair in the darkness, watching her sleep, he felt himself moving further and further away until he was back on Asgard and stood outside the weapons vault.

He decided to visit his father, wondering if perhaps he might be able to wake him if he admitted he felt lost and alone and needed his help, but as he sat with his mother, and she said that Thor would return, his hope began to fade.

As he rose from his chair to leave the room the doors opened, and the Einherjar stood before him.

“Thor is banished. The line of succession falls to you,” his mother said regally. “Until he awakens, Asgard is yours.”

As the Einherjar handed him the spear, Loki turned to face his mother, and she said, “Make your father proud.”

Loki knew what to do. He would destroy the monsters. Odin would awake, and he would be proud that Loki had done what he never could. Loki would finally belong.

 

**

 

He was falling.

Two words had dashed all his hopes, he let go of the spear, not knowing and not caring if he would survive or not, but at least it was over.

He closed his eyes and let his mind drift as he fell, and when he opened them again he saw a pale pink gauze canopy that hung over a familiar bed.

“Loki!” Amelia shrieked, as she bounced across the room, jumped onto the bed, and gave him a hug.

“Hello, Amelia,” Loki said. “It's nice to see you.”

Amelia moved back as Loki sat up, and asked, “Did it work? Did you wake your daddy up?”

“He did wake up, yes,” Loki replied sadly, “but he wasn't very happy with me.”

“Did you do something naughty?”

“I'm afraid I might have, yes.”

“Don't you remember the picture?” Amelia asked, as she moved over to the small white table and picked up her red crayon. “If you are going to be a naughty boy still we need to change this.”

Loki watched as Amelia scribbled on the drawing, then she held it up for him to see. The little black outline was now red half way up the horns, and only the tips of them remained white.

“Your badness level was high before, now it is _very_ high!” Amelia snapped. “If you don't be good, people won't like you. People only like people who are nice to them.”

“Do you still like me?” Loki whispered, then he shook his head, hating just how pitiful he sounded.

“Of course I do, you're my friend,” she said. “I made you a present.”

“A present?” Loki said. “I'm not really sure I deserve a present.”

She held up a braided cord, made out of shining black, gold and green threads and said, “It's called a friendship bracelet.” Then she held her wrist out, and said, “Look, I have one the same.”

“You made this for me?” Loki asked.

“Hold your hand out,” she said, and Loki did as she asked, then he watched as she tied the braided cord around his wrist. “Now when you look at it you will remember me and know you have a friend, and when I look at mine I will think of you and know I have a friend. It'll remind you that you should be a good boy, too.”

Loki was momentarily speechless as he looked at the cord around his wrist. Such a simple gift, but at that moment it meant more to him than all the gold in Asgard. She had made it for him, spent time braiding, and knotting the threads just for him, and made another to wear herself so she would always think of him, and they would be bound together for as long as the threads existed. “It is a wonderful gift. Thank you.”

“It's my bedtime now so you'll have to leave soon,” Amelia said dejectedly. “I don't want you to go while you still look so sad.”

She went to the shelves and picked up the book of fairy tales, then handed it to Loki.

“Do you want me to read you a story?” he asked.

“No, I want you to take it with you when you go. It'll make you happy, and the people in those stories do nice things, so when you read them it will make your badness level go down.”

Amelia brushed her teeth, then climbed into bed, and closed her eyes. As she fell asleep Loki flipped through the fairy tale book, looking at the bright pictures within it's thick, yellowing pages, and felt himself moving further away, being drawn back into the void between the realms. He closed his eyes and waited.

He was falling.

His hands were empty, the book of fairy tales was gone, and as he touched his wrist he realised it was bare. His gifts from Amelia had not come back with him into the void, and he was truly alone.

“Lost,” Loki whispered into the darkness. “I'm lost.”


	3. Chapter 3

In the almost permanent darkness of the space between the realms he quickly lost track of time, and it felt as if all those who claimed to care for him had abandoned him long ago, but when Loki had cried out for help _he_ had answered. He put a sceptre in his hands, showed him how to control the overwhelming power of the tesseract, and gave him an army to command.

When it was over he would have his own realm to rule, a realm where the people would kneel and worship him like the king he was born to be. If Loki didn't belong anywhere, at least somewhere would belong to _him_.

As he stood, waiting for the right moment to open the portal, he closed his eyes and felt a crawling sensation, as if he was being pulled away.

 

The room looked the same as always. Its pink walls were still bright and welcoming, and gauzy fabric created a pink canopy fit for a princess above the bed.

“Amelia?” Loki asked as the door opened and the young girl walked in, carrying a school bag.

“Loki!” she shrieked and flew across the room to hug him. “I didn't think you were coming back to see me any more.”

“I thought you didn't want me here,” he said as he knelt and swept her mousy brown fringe out of her eyes. “You didn't call for me.”

“Call for you?” she asked.

“When you need my help.”

“I don't need any help, silly,” Amelia laughed as she teased her fingers through the bottom of Loki's hair where it touched his shoulders. “It's so long. You should get your mummy to trim it for you.”

“I'm afraid I haven't seen my mummy or daddy for a very long time, but it's all right. I don't need them now.”

“Have you been all alone?”

“Not quite,” Loki replied. “I have new… acquaintances.”

“Acqua… what?”

“That word means people you know, but wouldn't call them friends.”

“They aren't your friends?”

“Why would I need them to be my friend when I have the best friend in all the realms stood right in front of me?” Loki said, touching his finger to the end of her nose.

Amelia giggled, and said, “What shall we do today? Shall we read a book?”

“Actually, I need to ask you a very serious and _very_ important question.”

“OK.”

“Where do you live?”

“I live with my daddy.”

“What part of Midga… I mean, what country do you live in?”

“I live in England,” Amelia replied.

“Whereabouts in England?”

“In Yorkshire. Why do you need to know that?”

“Because some things are going to happen soon, things that might look scary to you,” Loki said. “The world is going to change a lot, and I want to make sure you will be safe while it happens.”

“What kind of scary things?”

“It doesn't matter, because in the end I will be king and it will all be worth it.”

“You'll be king?” Amelia asked. “King of England?”

“I'll be king of _everywhere_ ,” Loki said, with a triumphant smile.

“But we already have a Queen. What will happen to her?”

“I don't know,” Loki said, thinking for a moment. “If she fights I imagine I'll have to defeat her.”

“You can't hurt the Queen!” Amelia protested. “She's a nice old lady!”

“Now listen, this is very important,” Loki said, with a slightly wild look in his eyes as he grabbed Amelia's shoulders tightly. “You might hear bad things about me, but you shouldn't believe them, because I'm your friend, and when I come back I'll make sure you are looked after. You'll be a real live princess, I promise.”

“I don't want to be a Princess!” Amelia squealed as she squirmed out of Loki's firm grip. “You aren't very nice any more! You're gonna hurt the Queen!”

“But Amelia,” Loki said, “I'm trying to help you!”

“Go away!” she shouted. “You're not my friend. You're not Loki, you're different now.”

“Amelia, darling, don't be-”

“GO AWAY!” she screamed as loud as she could, and Loki felt himself hurtling backwards, the pink bedroom fading from view. When he opened his eyes he was back in the Chitauri realm, standing in the wilderness, all alone.

“Are you ready?” a voice asked from the darkness.

“I am,” Loki replied.

“Then open the portal.”

Loki crouched, placed one knee on the ground, and waited.

 

*

 

Thor's presence on Midgard had come as a slightly unwelcome surprise, but Loki had dealt with him efficiently enough, and while he hadn't brought down the flying fortress, the so called heroes were scattered, one of their number was dead, and things were progressing well. Losing control of Barton was a mild annoyance, but he had need of him no longer, and once the Chitauri arrived it would be over.

Loki scanned the skyline as he waited in Stark Tower as Selvig tinkered with the device above, preparing to open the portal, and as he stood the room around him began to melt away, and the high glass windows gave way to pink walls, and dolls clustered on a bed that was bathed in dappled sunlight from the tree lined lane outside.

“What are you doing here?” Amelia asked, nervously climbing to her feet and abandoning her colouring book on the small white plastic table. “I told you to go away. You aren't nice.”

“Don't be silly,” Loki said. “I would never do anything to hurt you.”

“You hurt my arm,” Amelia said quietly, pulling up the sleeve of her dress to reveal a thumb shaped bruise. “I told my daddy I fell over. You made me have to lie to him. That's naughty.”

“I'm sorry,” Loki said as he edged towards her. “Would you like me to fix it for you?”

Amelia nodded tentatively, and Loki knelt before her. He ran his fingers lightly over the bruised skin, and worked a simple healing spell until he was satisfied the purple mark had vanished. “There, isn't that better?”

“Thank you,” she sniffled.

“You have nothing to fear from me, little one,” Loki said.

“Have you seen your mummy and daddy yet?”

“No, but I saw my brother.”

“That's nice,” Amelia said with a smile.

“He's gone away now,” Loki said, and he frowned slightly.

“You look sad,” Amelia said.

“Noooo,” Loki replied. “I am well. I'll be king soon, when my acquaintances arrive.”

“You don't look very happy,” Amelia asked. “When people make you sad, what cheers you up? We can do that. It'll be nice.”

“Playing tricks on them and making them cry,” Loki blurted out, not even considering his answer.

“It's not nice to make people cry, Loki!”

“Even if they made you sad?” Loki asked. “Sometimes when people hurt you deliberately, it's all right to do the same thing back to them.”

“I don't know. It sounds naughty to me,” then she sighed, and said, “Emily, the girl who lives next door isn't very nice to me.”

“Has she hurt you?”

“She called me teachers pet, and told the other children I smell and now no one will play with me.”

“Well,” Loki replied, feeling angry on Amelia's behalf. “We shall see about that.”

 

Loki was struck the beautiful landscape of the area where Amelia lived when they stepped outside the tiny idyllic whitewashed cottage she shared with her father. A stone wall ran along the lane outside, and a patch work of fields, holding cows and sheep, led into rolling hills covered in purple heather.

There were a few other cottages that lined the quiet lane, and as Amelia stepped out of the gate, a young girl trundled past on a small bike and shouted “Amelia poophead!”

“Shut up!” Amelia retorted.

“No, you shut up!” Emily said, doubling back on her bike, and stopping near the gate. “No one likes you! You wear ugly shoes, and your clothes smell.”

“They do not!” Amelia shouted, tears gathering in her eyes.

Loki watched as the girls argued, and spiteful plans formed in his head. He could shave the girl's head as she slept, perhaps? It had certainly upset Sif when he had done that to her, but she had deserved it. They all deserved it. He clenched his fists in anger as his rage began to boil over. They would pay for what they had done.

“Amelia,” Loki snapped, and the girl stopped talking. “Let her go.”

“Nothing to say, eh?” the girl said cruelly, as she started to peddle away, then she turned and shouted over her shoulder, “Not as smart as you think, poophead!”

“I hate her!” Amelia sobbed, wrapping her arms around Loki, and burying her face into his side. “She's so mean to me.”

“Don't you worry, darling,” Loki replied, running a shaking hand through the girl's hair. “We'll have our revenge.”

 

As they teleported into Emily's bedroom Loki noted that it was similar to Amelia's room in many ways. It was bright and airy, even though it only had a single small window that overlooked the small front garden, with painted yellow walls and sunflower pattern curtains.

“We should work quickly before you are missed at home,” Loki said.

“Shhhhh!” Amelia replied. “You have to whisper. Someone might think we are burglars.”

“You don't need to worry about that,” Loki said loudly, as he jumped onto the bed, and bounced up and down on the yellow quilt. “I have magic, and I can make sure no one can hear a single sound we make!”

“Really? No one can hear us?”

“No!” Loki shouted at the top of his voice, jumping off the bed and landing with a heavy clump on the floor. “Now what shall we do? Shall we poison all the food in the house?”

“No!” Emily shrieked. “Hurting people is bad!”

Loki picked up a stuffed rabbit toy, and turned its face towards Amelia. “Shall we enchant all her animals so they come to life and attack her while she sleeps, and when she runs out of her room we'll catch her, and cut her head off!”

“Loki! I just said no hurting people, and no killing people either!” Amelia said, crossly. “Your badness level is right up to your horns now. I'll have to fill that in when I get home.”

Loki threw the stuffed rabbit on the bed, rolled his eyes dismissively, and then he grinned manically. “What if we fill her pillow with horse manure? Then she really would be the poophead.”

Amelia laughed, and said, “Where will we get horse manure?”

“Forget the horse manure,” Loki said, then he waved his hand, and a steaming cowpat from the field across the lane appeared on the bedroom floor. “We can use this instead!”

“Eeew!” Amelia shrieked, holding her nose. “That smells so bad.”

“You think it too much?”

“I'm not putting that inside Emily's pillow. It'll make my hands dirty.”

“Yes, yes…” Loki muttered, as he waved his hand and teleported the pile of dung away. “We must be cunning, and subtle. It must be something she would never suspect.”

“One time we went shopping and my dad dropped a fish out of a bag and it went under the car seat, and it smelled so bad next time we went in the car.”

“Fish? What a marvellous idea,” Loki said. He clapped his hands and dozens of tiny fish rained down from the ceiling. “We can secrete them inside things, and she won't know where the smell is coming from for days.”

Loki opened the small wardrobe, and tugged at the hem of a pretty pink party dress. “We can do this,” he said, then he picked up a small fish from the pile, and teleported it inside the folded hem.

“She's going to be so smelly,” Amelia laughed, and then she watched as Loki used magic to put tiny fish into the waistband of Emily's school uniform skirt.

“Do you think I might get in trouble?” Amelia asked, suddenly having second thoughts as Loki worked his way through the full wardrobe. “It's very naughty.”

“What else are you supposed to do? Suffer in silence for a millennia?” Loki angrily replied, as he moved over to the bed and began teleporting fish inside the stuffed animals and dolls. “When people hurt you, you have to hurt them back or they will do it again. They need to learn that you will not stand for such treatment or they will never stop.”

“But my daddy says you should ignore bullies and tell an adult.”

“Your daddy is wrong!” Loki snapped, as he flung a doll violently back onto the bed. He knelt, and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her roughly. “This is war, Amelia. There is absolutely no room for sentiment. We must stay strong and focused. We _must_ win.”

“Stop it,” Amelia said as she squirmed in hands. “I want to go home now.”

Loki released her, and stood. His anger had not diminished, and he missed the weight of the sceptre in his hand. He wanted to smash something, but showing his rage in front of a child would not do. She needed to be protected at all costs. She was young and vulnerable, and when everyone knelt before him he would ensure her safety.

“Very well,” Loki said, as he waved his hand to make the remaining fish disappear, and then the room began to melt away, then faded back into view as they appeared in Amelia's familiar bedroom. “I'm afraid I must go now.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I have important things to attend to. You should send me back.”

“Send you back?”

“Close your eyes,” Loki said. Amelia closed her eyes, and then Loki closed his. “Now wish I wasn't here.”

Loki expected her to protest, but as he opened his eyes to tell her to hurry up he realised he was back in the tower, looking out over the skyline of the city that would soon be his.

 

The portal was open. The Chitauri were everywhere, and even after being thrown out of a window, Stark seemed ludicrously convinced that he could stop the invasion.

As Loki had stood admiring the realm he would soon rule, his brother had miraculously appeared again. They fought, smashing each other roughly with their fists and Thor finally managed to get his hand round the back of Loki's neck and drag his head up.

“Look at this, look around you,” Thor said. “You think this madness will end with your rule?”

The city was being destroyed. The Chitauri were everywhere, and for a second Loki wondered what he had unleashed. Would this end with him ruling a broken realm? Would his palace be a smouldering wreck in a devastated city?

The Chitauri and their masters were going to win. They would rule every realm, they would bring the war to the doors of every being who existed, but Midgard would be his. Midgard would be safe under his rule.

“It's too late,” Loki said as he looked over the city skyline. “It's too late to stop it.”

“No, we can,” Thor pleaded, “together.”

The offer was a tempting one, to end this now, to go home with Thor and hope they would keep him safe when HE came to extract his vengeance for failure, but if he did that what would become of Midgard without his protection? What were the lives of the thousands who would die in this war, compared to the billions he would save from destruction?

He couldn't lose. There was simply too much was at stake, and he knew he had to get away.

He stabbed Thor in the side.

“Sentiment,” Loki replied, as a tear rolled down his face.


	4. Chapter 4

Loki lay, unmoving, in the crater his own body had created when the mindless beast had flung him into the floor. The only sounds were his own wheezing breath, his smashed ribs grating inside his chest as his body tried to heal itself, and explosions in the distance as the Chitauri continued to wreck the city outside.

The creature had stalked away, muttering the words _Puny God_ as it left, and Loki hoped he could find the strength to move before it returned. He closed his eyes, and wished he were anywhere but here.

 

“Loki!” he heard a voice shriek, and then he cried out in pain as a small weight landed on his upper body.

“Amelia,” he gasped, as he opened his eyes, and saw the small girl lying on him, hugging her arms tightly around him. “Amelia, please.”

“What's wrong?” she said, as she knelt up.

“I'm afraid I'm not very well.”

“Your nose is bleeding,” Amelia noted, looking at his face. "Did someone hurt you?”

“No, no, I just had a little accident,” Loki wheezed. “I'll be fine... if I just lay here on the floor for a while.”

“When I get a cut my daddy puts some magic healing stuff on it, and it feels better,” Amelia said, then she got up, left the room and came back with a cloth and a small bottle.

“What's that?” Loki asked.

“Magic stuff!” she replied, unscrewing the top, and tipping some of the fluid onto the cloth. “This might sting, but it'll make you better.”

Loki flinched as she held the cloth to the cut on his nose, dabbing gently at the blood, then pressing it to a sore spot on his forehead, and again above his eyebrow.

“Thank you,” Loki said, as she pulled her hand away, and placed the bloody cloth on the floor.

“Would you like me to read you a story?” Amelia asked.

“I'd like that very much,” Loki replied, and as Amelia read him a fairy tale where everyone lived happily ever after, he wondered what would become of him.

He closed his eyes and drifted back, and as he heard footsteps on the stone floor Loki knew he had to move. He had to escape. Even if the plan had failed he couldn't allow himself to be captured.

He painfully turned over, and tried to drag his broken body up the steps, but as he heard voices behind him, and the sound of a bowstring under tension, he knew it was finished, and turned to face his captors.

 

*

 

Loki sat in the Shield cell, a muzzle on his mouth, and shackles round his wrists that bound his magic within his body. He eyed the guards who stood outside with their weapons at the ready, all of them waiting for him to make an unexpected move so they would have an excuse to injure him. He would not give them the pleasure, and instead sat unmoving, maintaining steady eye contact until they were forced to look away.

Stark entered the prison room carrying a device in his hand and chatted idly with the guards for a moment, then one of them opened the cell door, and accompanied him inside.

“How ya doing, big fella? Can I get you anything?” Stark asked, as he waved the device around. “Magazine, book, nasogastric tube? Nope?”

Loki glared up at him.

“Ooooh, if looks could kill I'm pretty sure everyone in New York would be dead round about now with the power of that frown.”

Stark brought the device closer to Loki's head, and he flinched away. “You don't need to worry about this, just running a few tests to check the shackles are working properly. It's not like a laser drill or anything, which is a shame.”

The device beeped.

“And that is all working perfectly. Well, we are going out for Shawarma, and you are going to stay here and no doubt give everyone stink eye for the rest of the evening,” Tony said. “Shame you can't come, I'm sure you'd be delightful company.”

Loki sighed as Stark left the cell, closing the door behind him with a heavy metallic click.

“Get some rest,” Tony said. “Long trip ahead of you tomorrow.”

Loki shot Stark what he hoped was an evil look, but he couldn't stop the small crease of his brow.

“Oh, I guess no one told you yet? Thor's taking you home,” Tony said. “Time to face some Asgardian justice, and I bet your dad is gonna be pissed.”

Home. Thor was taking him home. He had killed a king, brought Asgard to the brink of war with Jotunheim, and attacked two realms. There could be only one punishment for crimes so severe.

The Frost Giants would want his head, they would threaten war if their demands were not met, and Asgard would call for them to be appeased. After all, what was the life of one Jotun foundling worth compared to the lives of the Aesir who would die in battle, and Loki knew that Odin would be forced to do as they wished. Thor was taking him home to his execution.

Loki closed his eyes and concentrated on the pink room, hoping she would hear his call.

 

“You don't look well,” a small female voice said.

“I am better than earlier,” Loki replied, opening his eyes, and finding himself perched on a small white plastic chair, with his knee tucked up into his chest, as Amelia continued to colour a picture of a horse with wings, galloping across the sky.

“My daddy was watching something on TV and he made me come upstairs because it wasn't good for me to see it,” Amelia said, looking up from her picture. “Did you do that?”

“I did, yes,” Loki sighed.

“Are you king now?”

“No, things didn't work out as I hoped they would,” Loki said, looking down as he picked at his thumbnail, and then he whispered, “I'm afraid I might not be able to come back to see you any more.”

Amelia looked up, her eyes wide. “Why?”

“My brother is taking me home tomorrow, and I don't know what will happen,” Loki said. To tell her the truth, that this time tomorrow he would probably be dead, would be a cruelty, but it would be equally cruel to just vanish from her life without explanation, and leave her feeling like he had abandoned her by choice.

“But… I don't want you to leave me,” Amelia said quietly as tears began to well in her eyes. “You might be bad sometimes, but you're my friend.”

Loki reached across the table and took her hand in his, fighting to keep control of his emotions, as he said, “My badness level is very high, right up to the tip of my horns. I'm going to be punished for being so bad.”

“Your mummy and daddy won't let you out to play any more?”

“Something like that, yes,” Loki replied. “But I want you to know that I would never leave you by choice. If I could, I would come to see you every day.”

“I won't forget you, if you leave,” Amelia said. “I know one day you'll come back.”

“I'm afraid that's not going to happen,” Loki replied quietly, looking down. “Will you promise me something?”

“What?”

“Will you promise me that you won't let them change you?” Loki asked. “All the people who pick on you or who are mean to you? Don't let them make you sad.”

“I'll try.”

“You've got to be what _you_ want to be. Don't you ever be like them, all right?” Loki asked desperately. “Promise me, promise me you will grow up and stay just as smart and wonderful as you are now. Tell me you won't let it make you bad.”

“I'll be good.”

“I-I don't want you to end up like me,” Loki stammered. “You don't deserve that.”

“I promise I won't be naughty.”

“And don't you _dare_ let anyone tell you aren't a princess,” he said, with a sad smile.

“But I'm not a princess,” Amelia said, her brow creasing with confusion.

“I'm a prince, and that gives me the power to make you a princess,” Loki said as he stood. “Kneel before me.”

Amelia climbed off her chair, and knelt in front of Loki, he placed his hand on her shoulder, and said, “Amelia, do you swear that you will protect these nine realms?”

He waited for answer, and then whispered, “You are supposed to say 'I swear'”

“Oh, sorry. I swear.”

“Do you swear that you will not listen to the nasty things people say about you, and remain forever true to yourself?”

“I swear!” Amelia said, her voice growing louder, and more assured.

“Do you swear that your badness level will stay very low?”

“I swear!”

“Then on this day, in the name of Odin all father, I proclaim you Princess Amelia of Midgard. Now arise, princess.”

Amelia climbed daintily to her feet and curtsied, and Loki raised his hand to his chest and bowed in return.

“I'm a real live princess now?” Amelia asked.

“Yes you are, and princesses are always kind and good, unlike princes who are sometimes naughty.” Loki knelt in front of Amelia again, and said, “I have to go now.”

“I don't want you to go,” the girl whined. “I want you to stay here with me and be my friend.”

“I know darling, but I'm afraid I don't have any choice.”

“Noooo,” she cried, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Just close your eyes, and it'll all be over,” Loki said, hugging her tightly. "It'll all be over."

He listened as the sound of her sobs faded away, and felt the dragging weight of the shackles around his wrists, as the chain lay on his knee. He opened his eyes, and glared at the guards who were still watching him calmly, as if he had never moved.

 

*

 

His punishment had been decided, and it was not to be execution, although most days Loki wished it had been. He had been taken to a cave and bound to a heavy sandstone rock by unbreakable chains that wrapped tightly around his stomach, and drained away his magic.

He had struggled when the snake first appeared from the roof of the cave, tried to bat it away with his hands as it hovered ominously above and opened its mouth to reveal rows of pointed, hollow fangs.

The first drip of venom onto his hand had shocked him, causing him to snatch his arm back away from the creature, and then he watched with horror as the acid burnt its way through the skin of his palm.

The second drip landed on his cheek, and he whimpered in pain.

The third drip landed in his eye, and he began to scream.

Amelia had been overjoyed when he returned, and as the days of raw agony turned into months, and then years, he spent more time with her, never questioning why she grew no older. She remained unchanged; her hair never got longer, she didn't grow an inch, and she was always in her room no matter what time of day Loki appeared.

Sometimes he would spend hours with her, laughing and reading stories of princes and princesses, of lost and lonely ducklings, and sitting in the garden of her tiny idyllic cottage in the bright sunshine, and then Loki would wake up shivering and alone in the darkness of the cave. Time passed differently when he was with Amelia on Midgard he assumed at first.

 

“You can stay with me as much as you like, Loki,” she smiled. “It's nice here.”

“It is lovely here,” he replied, as he lay back on the perfect lawn, twirling a blade of grass between his fingertips. “I wish I didn't have to go back.”

“You don't have to go back if you don't want to,” she replied. “You could stay here with me.”

“Oh, I couldn't do that,” Loki said, as he sat up. “If my father returned and found the cave empty he would tear the nine realms apart searching for me. He would find me eventually, and I wouldn't risk your safety like that, especially after you've been so kind to me.”

“Don't be silly,” Amelia laughed. “The cave isn't empty. You're still there, your body anyway.”

“It is?”

“Yes, so that means you can stay here as much as you like. You could stay forever if you want.”

“I'd like that very much,” Loki said, as he wrapped his arms Amelia, and she hugged him tightly back.

Loki was woken by the hiss of the venom dripping on his shoulder as it burnt into his skin with a small plume of smoke. The arms wrapped around his thin chest were his own, and he knew what it meant. He wasn't her friend, she was his.

He closed his eyes, and wished himself back to the pink room.


End file.
